By Jim Coffman
It was still a stupid trade. But maybe ol’ Mitch will justify it after all.
Ryan Pace was still negotiating against himself when he traded three draft picks to move up one spot (from No. 3 to 2) in the first round of the 2017 draft to draft the quarterback from North Carolina named Trubisky. He was fleeced by a rookie general manager (the 49ers’ John Lynch) in his first 10 minutes on the job of drafting players for San Francisco.
Don’t believe me? Ask Hub Arkush, who has way better sources than you do. Our man Hub has said on numerous occasions that there were no other offers for the 49ers’ pick (and even if there had been, none included the No. 3 pick, the primary asset the Bears sent away – if the Browns had made the trade with the Niners, the primary asset would have been their next pick, No. 12). Pace got it in his head that he was going to be Mr. Aggressive and there was no stopping him.
But now we have the first evidence that it wasn’t just justified, it was totally justified dude! In other words, the team that obliterated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-10 Sunday looks like it has enough depth to be successful despite the lost picks. And the guy they did it for, the young quarterback with the glorious arm, has written a first chapter in a book of greatness.
My goodness could a game be more fun than that for a Bears fan? It was the most satisfying victory around here at least since 2013, when Marc Trestman was still an exciting offensive innovator. And it might have been the best since, I don’t know, the 2006 NFC Championship?
Okay, let’s try to calm down a little bit. But before we do, we can definitely revel in the fact that these last 30 days now qualify as one of the more remarkable portions of Bears history.
The Bucs defense was terrible. They were playing after a short week of preparation (after losing to the Steelers on Monday night) but still . . . the Bears put the wide open in wide receivers, and running back Tarik Cohen.
The coolest thing is that Trubisky became the first Bears quarterback since Johnny Lujack in 1949 (!) to throw six touchdown passes in a game. And Lujack never threw the kind of spirals Trubisky does. Of course the ball was fatter when the former Notre Dame great plied his trade.
Defensively the Bears made it clear it doesn’t matter if they are facing a veteran or a promising (relative) youngster, they are consistently able to make the big plays that make a difference. How about the fact that Khalil Mack has strip sacks in four consecutive games?! Thanks again, Coach Gruden.
The team’s run of health continued. Sam Acho suffered an injury and may be out for awhile but the Bears will almost certainly get injured cornerback Prince Amukamara back for the next contest. They will also see Marcus Cooper return but given the emergence of undrafted rookie corner Kevin Toliver, Cooper is probably falling down the depth chart.
Now the Bears get a few days to revel in it with the bye looming on Sunday. And after that are the Dolphins and then the Patriots. And eventually after that they get back into a division competition that should be great.
This team is looking so good, Pace might not have to trade away any more draft picks for the foreseeable future.
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Jim “Coach” Coffman welcomes your comments.
Posted on October 1, 2018